Happy Kerry makes rare stop on House floor

An ebullient Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) made a rare appearance on the House floor Thursday night, shaking hands and chatting with members. At one point, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) walked up to the senator and gave him a hug.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Kerry told POLITICO when asked if the hugs were those of congratulations about a forthcoming appointment to Secretary of State. "I told them, I said, 'Nothing is done until something is done.' We simply talked about the fiscal cliff and whether we can get a deal together and ... that was it, I promise you."

As he walked down the hall, Kerry stopped to greet reporters and others gathered outside the chamber. He insisted that his detour to the House was simply to say "hello" and not to clue his delegation about an impending open Senate seat.

"I hope that he's here because he wants to view the House in his last days as a senator. I hope he's secretary of state. I think he'd do an excellent job," Engel told POLITICO. "He didn't say it one way or another. I looked up and there he was so I walked over and said 'hello.' We can speculate and my speculation is he's here because he thinks he might be elevated and I hope it's true."

Engel said he reminded Kerry he will soon be the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.